Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California

Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California
WEBSITE       RESUME       CONTACT       FACEBOOK        LINKEDIN       
Showing posts with label seismic retrofit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seismic retrofit. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Loma Prieta Earthquake Changed California Real Estate Regulations 37 Years Ago by Mary Cummins


37 years ago today the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit San Francisco. It was a 6.9 earthquake that severely shook the bay area region at 5:04 p.m. for 20 seconds. It was so strong that we felt it down here in Los Angeles. Heavy glass vases walked off my display cabinets and the garage addition cracked and separated from the house. A quarter of the swimming pool water came out of the pool in waves. It went under the fence and flooded the neighbor’s garage. I was in a liquefaction zone. 

Seeing the destruction and all those people trapped under the collapsed bridges was like a nightmare. Buildings were leaning over and being propped up by two by fours in the streets of San Francisco. People were trapped and crushed in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Cypress Street Viaduct, Nimitz. The top decks of the bridges collapsed onto the lower decks trapping people for days. It also cut off a major regional travel artery into and out of the city. It took years to rebuild the bridges.

The earthquake triggered major revisions to California building codes focusing on soft-soil amplification, foundation anchoring, cripple wall bracing and structural ductility. Old homes just fell off their foundations because the homes weren’t bolted to the foundations. Soft-story buildings had to be retrofitted after the second floors pancaked onto the first floors over carports. Homes in liquefaction zones needed reinforcement. The modern seismic retrofit industry started as a result of that earthquake. Seismic retrofit became mandatory in order to get insurance on older homes for mortgages.

There were aftershocks for days. I ended up with earthquake PTSD for a few months. Every time the people down the office hall from me rolled their heavy cart down the hallway the shaking would cause my heartrate to shoot up thinking it’s another earthquake. Because of that earthquake collapsing the bridges and overpasses I still get very nervous waiting for a light under an overpass. I do what I can to make sure I’m not under the overpass when the light turns red.

Hard to believe it’s been 37 years. We have learned a lot about earthquakes in the meantime and made major changes to building codes. We still have to be prepared for the next big earthquake. Everyone should have an earthquake kit and plan ready. A big earthquake could strike any day in California. #lomaprietaearthquake #california #losangeles #marycummins 





Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 43 years of experience.


Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin

DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, August 8, 2014

Seismic retrofit of buildings, homes in Los Angeles, California - by Mary Cummins real estate appraiser

Mary Cummins, real estate, appraiser, Los Angeles, California

Cities such as Los Angeles and Santa Monica are examining the effects earthquakes can have on cement buildings. Previously they examined brick apartment and commercial buildings and found they can collapse in earthquakes killing the inhabitants. The cities forced the owners to seismic retrofit brick apartment and commercial buildings.

While it's not currently mandatory to seismic retrofit your home, most homes that need retrofitting probably already have it. If you buy your home with a loan, the lender will not give you the loan unless you have seismic retrofit. It's been this way since the 1994 Northridge earthquake at least. Any home that has sold since 1994 with a loan probably already has seismic retrofit. The same goes for commercial, retail and industrial buildings. No bank will give a loan unless it has been retrofitted. Banks lost a lot of money because of the 1994 quake. They don't want to do that again. This is just for California. 
Just because your building survived the 1971 Sylmar, 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge quakes doesn't mean it can withstand future quakes. All of these quakes were different types in different areas. You also have to figure in liquefaction zones and other subsurface materials. Some buildings are built over rock, some over sand and some over shale. 
Retrofitting will not save your building. It is mainly to prevent it from collapsing and killing people in or directly outside of the building. Your building could still be a total loss and need to be torn down after a quake. 
If you take a look at the local earthquake maps, you can tell where a quake is likely to happen. When the flats meet the mountains is most likely a quake zone. That is how the mountains were formed. For example Sunset Blvd runs along a fault line. Sunset winds around the base of the mountain.

 

I personally have only used Weinstein Construction for seismic retrofit work.  They will inspect and give you an estimate for free. They take care of all permits. They retrofitted my 1928 Spanish home in 2000. I had to retrofit it in escrow in order to get a loan. It had a crawl space with cripple walls. A team of about eight guys leveled the piers, bolted the walls, foundation in about six hours for $3,500.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, single family, condo, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls,

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)